Oil-burning locomotive-furnace.



G. M. BEAN.

OIL BURNlNG LOCOMOTIVE FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3. 1914.

1,138,065. Patented May 4, 1915.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUY DI. BEAN, 015 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO A'MERICAN ARCH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

OIL-BURNING LOCOMOTIVE-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1 915.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, GUY M. BEAN, a citizen of the I'nited States, and a resident of Los Angeles. county of Los Angeles, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Burning Locomotive-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the tire boXes of that class of locomotives which use oil as a fuel.

The object ,of my invention is to provide a refractor v' lining for the pan of oil burning locomotives which shall be more permanent, nane durable, less liable to disruption and disintegration, and which shall be more easily built and repaired than those heretofore used, particularly as relates to the formation and preservation of the burner opening.

My invention consists in an improved construction of lining for the pans of oil-burning lot-mnotives whereby I am enabled to accomplish the objects above set forth and wherein the several refractory bricks which compose the wall provided with the burner opening and the refractory bricks protecting adjacent parts of the pan mutually retain each other in position and without the use of metallic or other fastenings.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear hereinafter.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal central sectional view of an oil-burning locomotive boiler fire box embodying my invenlion: Fig. i is a transverse section of the lire box on the line '2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the end \\all of the pan on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. l is a horizontal section of the pan on the line 4-4 of Fig. l. i

lleretofore it has appeared to be almost impossible to preserve the portion of the lining surrounding the burner opening in working condition for any reasonable length of time. Particular dilliculty has been encountered in maintaining the lining of rel'ractory material forming the upper side 'ul the opening through which the oil burner is introduced. for on account of the limited space available at this point. the bricks have been so weak that they were incapable of long resisting the constant pounding, jarring, and vibration of the loco-motive in service. Many attempts have been made to solve this difficulty, but until the time of my invention, as herein described and claimed, the attempts have been without success. Heretoforc it has appeared impracticable to make use of a refractory brick or member to form the upper wall of the opening, for the reason that the apparent available space for this brick was so shallow that the brick did not have strength enough to long resist the high temperature and rough usage to which it was subjected. As the brick which forms the upper wall or side of the burner opening is necessarily shallow in depth and consequently light in-weight, it is neceisary to mechanically prevent it from being thrown out of its place by the jolting action of the locomotive. By means of my invention I am enabled not only to lock this brick in place, but I am also enabled to make it of maximum depth and thus of maximum strength to resist desintegration.

A represents the usual form of a locomotive boiler firebox having side water legs a and a a, rear water leg a and a front water leg at. A flue sheet a closes the forward end of the firebox and flues a extend forwardly therefrom into the boiler.

In oil-burning locomotives it is the practice to close the bottom of the firebox by means of a pan B, secured at its edges to the mud ring a of the boiler. Commonly a depressed portion b is provided to form a fire chamber; this depressed portion ordinarily extends from the rear water leg for wardly to a point short of the frontend of the firebox and is secured at its sides to relatively narrow shelves 1) and at its front end to a shelf b which extends from the front end of the depressed portion to the front water leg. The depressed portion of a pan of the construction here shown is provided with inclined sides I)", I) and a relatively horizontal central floor I) and is closed at its forward and rear ends by the relatively vertical walls b and b respectively. i

In the end wall I1 I provide a burner opening I) to receive the burner C. This opening is of a size to permitthe entrance of air into the. tire box to aid combustion. The opposite end of the pan contains the flashv wall D. The remaining portions of the pan are protected by refractory units or bricks and it is with this remaining portion of the lining that my invention is particularly concerned. I protect the forward end 6 of the depressed portion of the pan by a relatively thin refractory wall E, and in this wall I provide a relatively large central opening F into which the burner C projects. Between the two walls D and E I arrange side bricks and floor bricks and so proportion these bricks that they fill in the intermediate space and hold the two end walls in position; in other words, the end walls project past the ends of the intermediate lining and are thus locked in position. Usually the height of the depressed portion of the pan is quite limited and consequently the space above the opening F, which it is necessary to protect by refractory bricks, is quite shallow and heretofore it has been found very difficult to maintain the lining of the pan at this point in consequence of the necessarily small cross section of the brick.

One of the particular features of my invention has to do with forming the end wall E of individual bricks of such form and construction and so related to each other and to the bricks which protect the adjacent portions of the pan-that this wall and particularly this upper brick shall be substantially permanent once they are installed and will not quickly give way or break under the usual stress, strain and vibration when the locomotive is in service. I build up this forward wall out of a. number of peculiarly shaped bricks soformed that I am enabled to provide the opening F for the burner and to retain the several bricks of which the Wallis composed firmly and securely in position. I provide two lower bricks e and e'-, shaped similarly, but formed right and left, to fit in opposite sides of the pan. I arrange these bricks at each side of the opening F the inner edges 0 thereof forming the side walls of the burner opening. The upper edges 6 of these bricks I incline downwardly and outwardly forming a V-shaped groove or slot 6 between the upper-edges of these bricks and the plate I). I complete the wall by an upper row of fire bricks e", the lower edges e of which are formed to fit .within the groove 6 and to beheld in position against the plate 6 by the upwardly projecting portions of the bricks 6 and e. I preferably formthis upper row of a number of bricks, the middle one e. thereof being of sufli'cient length to span-the burner opening, and rest at its ends firmly upon thev .bIlOkS e and e. The row is completed by further bricks of the-same form with which I fill in between the center brick and the sides of the pan. The inclined joint between the lower and upper rows of the bricks of the wall E causes the bricks of the upper row to be firmly seated upon the lower row and against the end wall of the pan, and if the upper bricks were heavy enough to resist the jolting action of the locomotive, they would probably remain firmly seated in position without other holding means, but usually as shown these bricks are quite shallow and light on account of the available space and consequently they and especially the middle brick must be held down in place. To accomplish this and at the same time preserve these bricks of maximum depth, I make their upper edges inclined substantially parallel with their lower edges and of a height to project above the horizontal floor plate 6". I protect the horizontal floor plate I) by fire bricks e laid thereon and I form or bevel the rear edge of the rear row of these bricks e complementary to the upper edges of the bricks 6. Consequently the rear edges of the rear row 6 project over the bricks 6 and lock them against rising out of their places. The bricks e may be made relatively large and heavy and they effectively prevent the bricks e from rising.

It will now be clear that by this construction I am enabled to make the upper row of bIlCkS e of maximum depth, and to prevent their displacement. Furthermore as the upper row 6' of bricks rises above the floor plate b they prevent the floor bricks thereon from sliding off of the plate into the depressed portion of the pan.

The burner opening F is flared inwardly to'cause the stream of air which is drawn through the opening by the stream of steam and oil, which is projected from the burner, to spread as it enters the combustion chamber to produce the most perfect combustion. The lower inclined edge of the upper brick 0 produces the flared shape at the upper side of the opening and I bevel the inner ends of the two lower bricks e and a, as shown,

opening and adapted to fit between the inner ends of the bricks e and e and arranged on the floor of the depressed portion of the pan.

I line the inclined sides 6 of the depressed portion of the pan with relatively thick refractory bricks d and cover the floor b with relatively thin refractory slabs d'-'. The lower ends of the side bricks d are spaced apart and retained in spaced relation by the floor bricks d. The bricks d and d extend substantially the full length of the respective portions of the pan So lined, the rear transverse row (I abutting and holding the flash wall D in position, and I so proportion the width of the bricks d and d that 'the forward edge of the forward transverse row oi of the bricks d and d is spaced from the forward plate 6 just sufficient to permit the placing of the refractory wall E in position. The lining of the floor and the inclined sides of the depressed portion are thus inserted between the two walls D and E and serve to hold the forward wall against the plate 12 the rear wall against the rear end of the fire box, and conversely the two walls hold the refractory bricks d and 03 against longitudinal movement in the pan. The bricks d are preferably of such length that their upper ends d extend above the side shelves 6, b and serve to hold in position the refractory bricks with which I cover and protect the Side shelves b b.

It will be clear that the several bricks of which the lining of the pan is composed are interlocked in position, that they mutually retain each other against the severe vibration set up when the locomotive is in use, and that this is particularly true of the bricks forming the front wall of the pan and containing the burner opening.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 2- 1. In a locomotive fire box, a bottom closing pan having a substantially vertical wall at one end provided with a burner opening, a refractory lining for said pan, the lining of said wall comprising a lower and upper lOW of refra'ctorybrlcks, two of the lower bricks being spaced apart to form the sides of said opening, the upper edges of the lower bricks being formed to provide a Y- shaped groove between the bricks and said wall, the lower edges of the upper bricks be ing conformed to and with the upper edges of the lower bricks and being thereby maintained in position againstsaid vertical wall.

2. In a locomotive fir'e box a bottom closing pan having a substantially vertical wall at one end provided with a burner opening,

a refractory lining for said pan composed of a plurality of slab like fire bricks, the lining for said vertical wall being composed of a lower and an upper row of fire bricks set on edge, two of the bricks of the lower row being spaced apart to form the sides of said burner opening, the upper edges of the said lower bricks being inclined outwardly and downwardly to form a V-shaped groove between the bricks and said wall, the upper row of bricks conforming on their lower edges with the upper edges of the lower row and being thereby retained in position against said wall, one of the upper row of bricks spanning said burner opening and resting on its ends upon the spaced lower bricks, and refractory means holding said spaced lower bricks in spaced relation.

3. In a locomotive fire box, a bottom closing pan having a substantially vertical wall at one end provided with a burner opening, a refractory lining for said pan composed of a plurality of individual slab like bricks, the lining for said vertical wall comprising a lower row of two bricks set on edge and spaced apart to form the sides of said opening and having outwardly and downwardly inclined upper edges, and an upper row of bricks resting upon said lower row and conforming on their lower edges with the v upper edges thereof, one of said upper'row of bricks spanning said opening and resting upon the bricks forming the sides thereof and a refractory brick upon the bottom of said pan spacing said two lower bricks apart and holding them in spaced relation.

4. In a locomotiveifire box a bottom closing pan having a vertical wall adjacent to one end provided with a burner opening, a horizontal floor plate connecting the upper edge of said vertical wall with the forward water leg of the fire box, a refractory lining for said pan comprised of a plurality of said horizontal plate, and said upper row rising above said horizontal plate and said floor bricks overhanging said upper bricks, whereby said floor bricks'and said upper row of bricks mutually retain each other in position.

5. In a locomotive fire box a bottom closing pan having a vertical wall adjacent to one end and provided with a burner opening, a horizontal floor plate connecting the upper edge of said wall with the front water leg of the fire box, a refractory lining'for said pan composed of a plurality of individual slab like fire bricks, the lining for said vertical wall being composed of a lower and an upper row of bricks set on edge, the lower row conforming in height with the height of said openin and two thereof being spaced apart to orm the sides of said opening, a refractory member arranged between said two bricks and holding them in spaced relation, the outer portions of the upper edges of the lower row of bricks being lower than their inner portions, the lower edges of the upper row conforming to and with the upper edges of the lower row, whereby they are held in position against said vertical wall, the upper edges of said upper row being outwardly and downwardly inclined and rising above said horizontal floor plate and floor bricks covering said floor plate, the rear row of which, have their rear edges conformed to and with the upper edges of the upper row of end bricks whereby they mutually retain each otherv in position.

6. In an oil burning locomotive a bottom closing pan having a centrally arranged lon gitudinally disposed depressed portion closed at its ends by substantially vertical walls, the forward end wall being provided with a burner opening, a horizontal floor plate connecting the upper edge of the forward wall with the front water leg of the fire box, a refractory lining for said pan composed of a plurality of'individual slablike bricks, the lining of said vertical wall being composed of a lower and an upper row of bricks set on edge and against said wall, the lower row consisting of two bricks spaced apart to form the sides of said burner opening, the upper row comprising three bricks, the middle brick spanning said opening with its ends resting on the lower bricks, the upper edge of the lower row and the lower edge of the upper row bein outwardly and downwardly inclined, w ereby 'the upper row of bricks is retained in position against said wall, refractory means for retaining said lower bricks in spaced relation, and said lower bricks and the end bricks of the upper row being retained in position by the lining of the bottom and sides of said depressed portion of the pan, the upper edges of the upper row of bricks being inclined parallel with their lower edges, and rising above said horizontal floor plate, floor bricks on said horizontal floor plate having their rear edges inclined complementary to the upper edges of the upper row of end bricks, whereby the floor bricks overhang the end bricks and lock them in position and the upper row of end bricks are of maximum possible depth.

7 In a locomotive fire box a bottom closing pan having a centrally arranged longitudinally disposed depressed portion closed at its ends by substantially vertical walls, the forward end wall being provided with a burner opening, a substantially horizontal floor plate connecting the upper edge of the forward wall with the forward water leg of the fire box, a refractory lining for said pan composed of a plurality of individual slablike fire bricks, the lining of said forward wall consisting of two lower bricks spaced apart to form the sides of said burner opening, refractory means holding said bricks in spaced relation, said bricks being outwardly and downwardly inclined on their upper edges, and an upper row of bricks conforming on their lower edges with the upper edges of the lower bricks and having similarly inclined upper edges rising above said horizontal floor plate, floor bricks on said horizontal floor plate having similarly inclined rear edges overhanging the end wall 60 as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 31st day of March, 1914, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUY M. BEAN.

Witnesses:

KATHERINE E. TITUS, PAUL WEEKS. 

